Jordan Summons Australia Diplomat Over Policy Change

Decision to drop 'occupied' to refer to Jerusalem, Judea-Samaria causes 'concern' in Amman.

By AFP and Arutz Sheva Staff

First Publish: 6/9/2014, 10:24 PM

Jerusalem

Flash 90

Jordan summoned Australia's charge d'affaires John Feakes after Canberra said it would no longer refer to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria as "occupied", the foreign ministry in Amman said on Monday.

"The ministry summoned the Australian charge d'affaires and informed him that the kingdom is concerned about the Australian government's decision to stop referring to east Jerusalem as 'occupied'," ministry spokeswoman Sabah Rafei said in a statement.

"The Australian government's decision violates international law and resolutions that consider east Jerusalem as an integral part of all Palestinian territories occupied in 1967," Amman claimed.

Last week, Australian attorney general George Brandis sparked fury from the Palestinian Authority (PA) by saying Canberra would not use such "judgmental language" to describe an area which was the subject of negotiations.

Israel, which has a 1994 peace treaty with Jordan, hailed the remarks as a "refreshing" acknowledgement of international law - which has never declared Israel's presence over 1949 Armistice lines as illegal - but the PA leadership denounced them as "disgraceful and shocking", making a formal diplomatic protest and summoning Australia's diplomatic representative.